Thesis

Question: What does the old man symbolize in " The Verb to Kill" ?

Thesis: The old man in " The Verb to Kill" symbolizes fear.

Question and Thesis

Question: In A Clean, Well Lighted Place, why does Hemingway include instances of first-person narration with the older waiter?

Thesis: Hemingway uses the occasional first person to provide a deeper characterization on the older waiter by giving the reader the advantage of seeing him from two perspectives.

Thesis

Question: "In the story 'Blow Up' what does Michelle do to the photograph and why?

Thesis: "Michelle of 'Blow Up' is blowing up a picture physically but in actuality he's searching for answers by diving into the image"

Thesis

Question: How is emotion evoked in a Clean Well Lighted Place?
Thesis: Hemingway uses light and language to evoke hope in the cafe setting and desperation in the smoky bar.

Question: Why does the author tell the story from a bum’s point of view?

Thesis: Valenzuela chooses to tell the story from the bum’s point of view to highlight the selfishness and blindness of middle class. By using someone outside of mainstream society to point out our inhumanity to our fellow man, the author challenges our assumptions about people who are marginalized in our society.

How do “assumptions” negatively affect the outcomes of The Verb to Kill and Who, Me a Bum?

Assumptions negatively affect the outcomes of The Verb to Kill and Who, Me a Bum? By creating a false realities for the story’s characters to brew and fester in so that they are already agitated when they need to interact in the material reality.

What is the purpose of Valenzuela illustrating such explicit and riciculous assumptions of the two main characters in the short story, The Verb to Kill?

The author Valenzuela's intent in portraying the escalating, irrational, obsession with the man, by the two girls, highlights the extreme nature of assumptions.

Question: How does Ernest Hemmingway create a sense of loneliness in the story A Clean Well Lighted Place ?
Thesis: Ernest Hemmingway uses descriptive language and isolates the protagonist in his story A Clean Well Lighted Place in order to create a sense of loneliness.

Question: In "A Verb to Kill", why do the girls feel like they need to prove their courage to a complete stranger? More or less someone who might kill them in which their courage would be irrelevant?

Thesis: In the short story "A Verb To Kill", the two main characters want to prove their courage to a possible "serial killer". This is because of their want for independence from their society and family. Not only this, but they also have a desire to feel safe around a potential killer. Proving their courage to that man serves just that.

Time and Photography: Thea's post

Time and Photography is only relatable in one way. Like how cotazar describes it, a photograph is just an image of an event frozen in time. Capturing one single image takes an event going on at the time and keeps it frozen, essentially stopping time. Each photo holds mystery of what was going on at the time. Bringing perspective into our discussion once again. One person might look at a photo, see it and think that at the time something was going on, and another person might look at the same photo and think that a totally different event had just occurred. Giving each person their own original take on each photographic image. A photo only captures one single event, straight down to the last second after the shutter opens and closes. It holds no time continuum it only takes one single event and freezes it in perfection. Otherwise like in the end of Blow-Up the images would begin to come off the page.